Against All Sanity
by Silvandar
Summary: Jasper is in mourning over Alice's death, but his grief is disturbed by an angst ridden Dean Winchester on a solo hunting mission. Jasper doesn't expect Dead Man's Blood and Dean sure as hell doesn't expect sparkles. Will they kill or comfort each other? Attempted IC. Fourth wall humor and build up to yaoi, lemons in later chapters. Post Breaking Dawn pt 2, season 6 Supernatural.
1. Chapter 1

**I am so, so sorry. I really am. You all know I don't write crossover fic, but this was too good an idea to pass up. I intend to heartily satirize both universes so if you are the type to get offended over ridicule to your pet world, look away now. I will make up for the crossing with some nice lemons later on, promise.**

**I've made an attempt to keep Dean and Jasper as IC as possible, let me know what you think!  
**

* * *

The bar was packed. Thick clouds of cigar smoke hung in the air, not quite masking the stronger odours of human sweat and alcohol. People were crowded together and over and above it all was the music - loud, disharmonious country rock.

He lurked at the back of the room, pressing against the grubby wood grain and sipping at a bottle of beer. The flickering lights of the gambling machine beside him cast his fine, pale features in strange colours of purple and green. Deep black eyes swept the room as he flicked his mass of blond hair out of his face.

An appreciative glance from a woman nearby caught his roving gaze and he watched her, tipping his drink in her direction to let her know she had his attention. A few moments later she was next to him, her spicy perfume engulfing his senses and her warm flesh pressing against the rough fabric of his clothes.

He didn't hear her name, didn't listen to her tipsy attempts at conversation. He held her gaze and let her lead him from the bar, let her entice him into a lonely alleyway beside the run down building. Solitary words dripped from his pale lips, enough to encourage her advances. Then the pause, the moment of surprise as she kissed him and the chill of his skin moved against her. Her eyes cleared of inebriation as he looked down at her and fear switched places with lust.

Her cry was sharp and quickly silenced as his teeth closed in her throat, the sudden flow of blood obliterating his every thought. His victim shuddered and writhed in his arms as he drank her, her struggles becoming weaker and weaker until there was nothing left. His body loosened, the painful tension leaving him as he let the body slide down behind a dumpster. The victim concealed, he leaned against the wall for a moment as his senses reeled and the hot blood taste in his mouth began to fade.

Red eyes opened in the darkness and with a last shiver of blood-lust, the vampire stepped out into the smoggy Detroit night, his latest crime hidden in garbage and rapidly gathering rats.

* * *

"Massive trauma to the throat, consistent with an animal attack. Contusions all over the body, although these were post mortem. The bite radius suggests rats."

"What's your theory, doc?"

"Coyotes."

* * *

"Coyotes. Frigging coyotes. Yeah Sam, that's what I said. No I know, I know it's probably... well no, I didn't see any... look, just relax man. Save the freak out. I'm being careful. OK, bye."

Dean Winchester tossed the phone over his shoulder into the back of his 1967 Impala and gunned the engine. Irritable as he was, he nevertheless handled the car with care and attention even whilst swigging aggressively from a beer can. Typical of his luck to find vampires whilst Sam was off on a jolly.

The lights of a handy motel beckoned him in and he hauled the car over. The brakes squealed and he swore loudly as he was forced to swerve to avoid a tall, thin kid in the middle of the parking lot. Breathing hard, Dean hammered on the horn and then froze as blood red eyes turned to regard him. He sat and watched in shock as the creature crossed in front of the car, the headlights picking out gleaming white skin and those terrible eyes.

"Shit..."

* * *

Jasper sat on the lumpy motel mattress and massaged his fingers, willing the fighting instinct down. The high of nearly being struck by a car had triggered all of his reflexes, heightened as they were by the fresh human blood he had drunk a few days before. He watched his hands shaking and for the hundredth, thousandth time he seemed to hear her voice, that soft, gentle voice that always calmed him and soothed away his aggression, his thirst.

Snuffling back blood tears, Jasper lay face down on his bed, loosing himself in the agony of grief. He would never hear that voice again. She was gone, his beloved Alice, gone where he was too afraid to follow. Gone into the pit, cast there by the monsters of Italy for refusing to part with him. The bed sheets stained red as his mind began the torture over again, taking him scene by scene through her destruction and his cowardly flight. Carlisle's words of forgiveness, understanding, rang hollow in his mind's ear and he tasted once more the bitterness of seeing them, all six of them together with the ones they loved and him forever alone.

As he suffered through the loss and pain his senses were dulled, unaware of the audience to his misery. The silent, still figure at the window was unnoticed even as it observed its prey. Satisfied that the vampire would do no harm tonight and only vaguely curious as to why it seemed to be sobbing, Dean slipped back to his own room around the corner and began picking out his weapons for the assault tomorrow. He hated hunting vampires at night. It was so much easier when they were sleeping.

* * *

The stink of human blood and the nearly silent sounds of the motel room door lock being picked brought Jasper out of the book he was reading. He placed it carefully down on the bed and in a second was behind the door, braced up in the corner with his back to the ceiling and his feet against the wall. He watched as the door opened and the human darted in holding a large knife, a syringe filled with what looked like blood and a rifle.

Dean froze, his eyes scanning the empty room. The curtains had been drawn so he assumed the thing was sleeping in the bed. Now he eyed the closed bathroom door and laid the rifle on the window ledge, pushing the curtains open to let in the sun. He turned and eased the main door shut, his body tense and ready to fight. For Jasper, perched above the door frame like a curious spider, the smell was intoxicating.

The human had been drinking, heavily, but his blood carried a slight bitterness to the smell that spoke of long term alcohol use instead of an overnight binge. Beyond that was the smell of adrenaline, odd considering how calm the man seemed. The behaviour was familiar to Jasper, although he hadn't seen it in well over a hundred years. The human was a Hunter.

One of the many confusing things about all this was the lack of any kind of cross or holy water, the usual hunter gear seemed to be missing entirely. More to the point, what the hell was with the blood filled needle? Jasper was vaguely aware of human blood diseases from his time with Carlisle Cullen, did this guy plan to give him HIV or something? Curiosity finally won - as the human moved to the bathroom door and prepared to open it, Jasper dropped silently to the floor.

"What are you doing in mah room?" he asked softly, his Texan drawl more pronounced than usual from surprise and nerves. The human spun round with a startled oath, the knife held before him and the syringe concealed. Jasper watched him closely as he braced himself to attack.

"Wha... you know, being awake during the day is just cheatin" the human declared, his manner angry but bantering. Jasper raised an eyebrow. A hunter that didn't know real vampires didn't sleep was very odd, possibly odd enough to risk talking to properly. Extending his senses, Jasper reached out for the man's emotional state to prepare to calm him down.

With a groan of agony Jasper fell back against the door and Dean moved, leaping forward and stabbing him in the chest with the needle. In a quick motion he emptied the syringe and then jumped back to wait for the dead man's blood to take effect.

Still reeling from the impact of the huge, insurmountable well of hatred, fury and guilt that he had just plunged his mind into, it took Jasper a few moments to realise he had been stabbed. When he did notice the needle caught in his clothes he yanked it out and threw it on the floor, looking at the human with disgust.

"What tha hell was that ya stuck inta me?" he demanded, his voice thick with outrage.

"Dead man's blood, sucker. Should give you that nice sleepy feeling, followed by serious pain when I chop your damn head off."

"Dead... you injected me with dead blood?" Jasper asked, utterly confused. "Why... why did you... disgusting!"

There was a pause as Jasper pulled open his bloody shirt to see that the needle had broken instead of piercing his rock hard skin. Dean used the pause to carefully put his back against the bathroom door, aware that the vampire was between him and the only sensible exit. Whilst the hunter part of his brain was looking for alternative exits and getting ready to fight to the death, the more rational side was adding things up.

Doesn't sleep during the day. Is standing in a big patch of faint sunlight and isn't burning up. Not afraid of dead man's blood, and apparently is made out of rock. What the hell, people?

"What are you?" Dean said gruffly, watching Jasper's self examination. The blond looked up with an eyebrow raised and a very annoyed expression. "You don't even know that much, but yer stickin pins in me anyway?" Jasper replied, taking his shirt off and mopping the stale blood from his chest.

The light from the window had been faint, concealed by rain clouds. It chose that moment to brighten, beaming direct light onto Jasper's exposed skin and sending up a million points of light, sparkling so intensely that it was almost painful to look at. Dean shaded his eyes and stepped back, cursing at the sudden shock. Jasper cursed too and stepped out of the light, tossing his shirt across the room and heading for the cupboard. He left the door unblocked, reasoning that the human probably wasn't going to attack him again now and if it wanted to flee, so be it.

Bolting across to the escape route, Dean stopped once he was in a position of quick exit and turned to watch Jasper pull another shirt out of the dresser and quickly cover his shimmering skin. Muttering something under his breath, Dean coughed a little before speaking his most urgent concern.

"You're not an angel are you? Cause if ya are, well, you know, water under the bridge and all that. Let bygones be bygones. I don't even see Cas any more."

"A wha... an angel? You think I'm an _angel_? Do you normally stab angels when you meet them?"

"Actually, yeah, normally, I do. So you're not then? What about a demon? I mean, not that I've ever seen a demon, you know, sparkle. But if you are from Crowley, then..."

"Who tha hell is Crowley?" Jasper was getting totally out of his depth now, and just a little bit worried. The human was obviously a fanatic, the kind that in his day would be run out of town before the crazy spread. He wanted him gone, wanted to return to his quiet life of grief and solitude. Enough talking. But without hurting the human he didn't know how to make him leave. There was no way he was touching his emotions again.

"Look" he said, trying the talking thing instead whilst the human was speechless with his own confusion. "I'm just passin through here. Why don'tcha just let me move on, and you can go back to playin with angels and demons by yerself. OK?"

Dean rallied. "No. Not OK. You may not be an angel, or a demon, but you are _something _and I ain't leaving until..."

"Until what? Until you kill me?" Jasper moved across the room in a flash, knocking the knife out of the humans hand and pinning him to the wall effortlessly. The human fought, much harder than Jasper expected, but that just made the blood pump harder in its veins and that, oh that just made things much, much more complicated. Reason fled and was replaced by burning thirst as Jasper's ever shaky hold on his self control snapped.

Jasper bared his fangs and received a solid head butt when he went to bite, stunning him for a moment. He actually heard his skin crack. The human was staring at the quickly healing spider-web of fractures in his flesh as Jasper shook his head and peeled his lips back in a desperate snarl. The blood on the man's forehead smelt incredible where his blow had split his own skin. The worst part was the human wasn't even afraid, he was furious. The emotions were dull because Jasper was shielding, but they were still tangible. The rage was special sauce and despite his best efforts, he couldn't restrain himself. Leaning forward, Jasper licked the blood from the humans skin with a soft groan of self loathing and animal delight at the fiery taste.

"Goddamnit" Dean swore, "freakin bloodsucker, I knew it!" He struggled and Jasper tightened his grip, hearing something in the man's forearm fracture. He didn't care, he was lost in the taste of his blood. He wanted to just drink him, he wanted to savour it, to make the taste last days. That sweet, sweet voice was so far away now he could barely hear her and he had no will to search for it.

There was a click and the humans eyes narrowed. "Sorry bloodsucker" he said, grinning like a madman, "looks like you missed out on this meal." Then there was pain in Jasper's abdomen and he was thrown back with the force of an explosion right into his gut. As he watched the human bolt from the room he put together the last five seconds and realised he had been shot from point blank range. His body was fine, just a little scorched and of course another shirt ruined. Jasper climbed off the bed and stared out of the window as the human raced for the oversized muscle car, leapt in and drove at a suicidal speed out of the parking lot.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2! Honestly, I have no excuse for this, but I'm really enjoying throwing these two worlds together. They're so close, yet just different enough to make for serious humour. Don't worry, I'm trying to rationalize it as much as possible. Yes, it will be a flange, but it will work!**

* * *

"I'm serious Sammy, I have no friggin idea what that thing was. I mean, it went after me like a bloodsucker, but it was... dammit Sam, the thing sparkled. Sparkled. I said.. I know, I know! What the hell sparkles and drinks blood?! No... no don't come, stay there with Julie-Ann, she needs you right now. Just... do your research thing and send it to me. OK? Yeah your laptop still works, what, you think I'm just gonna break it? Just email me everything you can find on sparkly motherf... yeah, I'll go through Dad's journal, although I tell you, ain't nothing in there like this. Wait... I gotta go."

Dean glared at the door, cocking his rifle. The cabin was about as remote as possible, only Sam knew where he was. No reason for someone to be knocking on the damn door. Moving quickly to the spy hole, he saw instantly that it was blocked. Someone didn't like to be spied on. Not a good sign.

Taking a step back, Dean aimed the gun at the door and growled "who's there?"

"Me" the soft, Texan voice breathed in his ear and he turned, pulling the trigger on the gun and seeing nothing but empty air. Spinning around Dean searched for the source of the voice, wondering if this wasn't just another nightmare. He'd had a few since the encounter with the sparkly creature in Andalusia. A moment passed, the only sound in the room his heartbeat, then something grabbed him from behind and threw him into a wall.

Jasper watched as the human crumpled onto the floor senseless, forcing himself to control the urge to attack him. Thankfully the impact hadn't drawn blood. Taking a calming moment, Jasper unhooked the rope from over his shoulder and looked around for a strong chair.

* * *

Waking up from water being thrown into his face never pleased Dean. At that moment though, the other factors were more upsetting than the soaking. One, tied to a chair. Two, damn sparkle-monster staring at him from a few inches away. Three, tied to a freakin chair!

"Welcome back" Jasper said, putting the empty glass on the table. He leaned on the back of the couch and looked at his captive as the human carefully tested his bonds. He could almost see the thought processes as ropes were tugged and limbs slowly flexed.

"You'll find you're pretty well hog-tied" Jasper said, folding his arms across his chest. "Why don't we start with the politeness's. My name is Jasper. An you are?"

"What, you don't know?" Dean stopped screwing with the ropes and fixed Jasper with an astonished look. "You must be the first damn thing I've run into for months that didn't know me on sight."

"Lest we forget, YOU broke into MY motel room" Jasper replied, pushing his curls out of his eyes. "So why the hell should I know you?"

"Well lets see, because I kick the ass of every last one of you suckers... and then there's the whole apocalypse thing... You really don't know me?" Dean finished, seeing the blank look get deeper.

"I'm just outta Washington backwoods, if that helps any. Don't know much about the South any more. I think I'm outta touch. So... are ya gonna tell me your name?"

"I'll tell you where to shove it..."

Jasper sighed and picked up the glass, breaking it carefully against the table and eyeing the sharp edge then looking back at the human. "You know, I really hate to threaten. I don't usually need to. Usually I can just... influence people into doing what I want. But you, you're a mess, kid. I can't get near you without hurting myself. So I'm going to do it the other way."

Dean's eyes were fixed on the long jagged piece of glass, feeling the first real flickers of rage. That was him all over though - don't get scared, get pissed.

"So what, you're gonna torture me. Won't be the first time... and let me tell you, the last one to do it was a freakin expert. We're talking Biblical. So go ahead."

Jasper laughed softly, a chilling sound in the deserted cabin. "No torture. Here's the thing... I just wanna know your name. I'm not a fan of violence." His bright red eyes met the humans and his lips pulled back from his teeth in a rictus of a smile. "But once I smell blood... oh, then I become just the hugest fan of it. So if you don't tell me what I want to know, I'm going to open your veins with this and let my monster out. Because frankly, I've wasted enough time on you."

The moments drew out. Dean was considering his options and finding them few and far between. Jasper was wondering if his bluff would hold... he had no intentions of killing this man, but he did need to know if there were any more hunters after him before he could relax. Just when he thought the human was going to force him to reveal his hand, it shrugged and sat up a bit straighter in its chair.

"Dean. Dean Winchester. Happy now?"

"Delighted to make your acquaintance, Dean Winchester. Next question - why did you attack me. Just because you saw I wasn't human, right?"

"I thought you were a... I KNOW you're a... look, I'm having a real hard time with this. You're a vampire. Yes?"

Jasper nodded, running his fingertips over the jagged edge of the glass and brushing tiny shards of it onto the floorboards.

"See that's damned unnerving. I mean, I know vampires are tough, but that should cut you at least a little bit! And the sunlight... that should have burned you. Not made you all... sparkly."

Jasper shook his head. "I don't know where you get your ideas about vampires from, what stories you've been listening to. Sounds like you just took a copy of Dracula and ran with it."

Dean growled and leaned forward. "I've killed vampires... I've nearly BEEN one, been bitten a dozen times... I know vampires..."

He flinched as Jasper jumped up, his pale face twisting in shock. "Impossible... how could you have been bitten and stayed human? Venom either turns or kills, there's no surviving!"

"What the hell is venom? Blood is what turns them, drinking vampire blood!" Dean was totally lost now, more worried than he had been throughout this whole thing. This was something new, some new crazy species of vamp he hadn't seen before. And he was slow enough to have let it tie him up.

Jasper sat back down on the couch, discarding the broken glass and biting his lip. "OK. Lets stick to the point. You attack vampires on sight, I take it?"

"Yeah, generally. Especially if they've been killing people in the area."

"What?" Jasper leaned forward, his eyes glowing red. "What did you just say?"

"Eating people, killing people, doing the vampire stuff you vampires love to do!" Dean growled, flexing his wrist. He was nearly loose of one rope, he just suspected that slipping that one would leave him with another few left that were now even tighter. Worse, his wrist was still badly bruised after the last meeting with this thing.

The stillness of the vampire got his attention, more than anything else. It was just sat there, looking like it was in shock. Blinking slowly it seemed to speak to itself more than to him.

"Did I? Alice, did I loose myself that much? No... no I would have remembered, would have felt the thirst lessen... surely..."

"Hey... lunatic. Snap out of it" Dean snarled, the craziness getting to him. Jasper shifted focus back to him and curled his lip a little.

"I'm going to untie you Dean. I didn't kill anyone, but I want to know who did. I want to know if it was one of us, or... or one of your kind of vampires. And if so, what the hell they are. So don't do anything stupid, like attacking me, please?"

"Whatever. Cut me loose."

Jasper leaned over the chair and gripped the rope. "Don't do anything dumb. I'm stronger than I look" he said before pulling the ropes apart like they were tissue paper. Dean gave him a long, cool look before standing up and brushing rope dust from his clothes.

* * *

"So what now? Back to Andalusia?" Jasper asked, shoving his hair out of his eyes. The gesture was such a Sam thing to do that Dean felt unhinged for a moment, reminding himself by the pain in his body that this thing was a monster, certainly strong enough to be a killer no matter what it said.

"Wish my brother was here" Dean muttered, wandering to the kitchen and taking a big hit of whiskey. "He'd say "listen Dean, I know it's a monster but, I dunno, I think we can trust it. I really do" or some girly shit like that. And do that freakin face of his, the puppy dog one that gets everyone to trust him as well. Instead I gotta put up with a crazy sparkle monster. By myself."

"Sorry about that. Maybe next time you'll think before chargin inta someone's motel room uninvited" Jasper said, relaxing a little. "This brother of yours... he a hunter too?"

"Yeah, and that's all I'm sayin about him" Dean said, picking up some weapons and turning to look at Jasper. "Here's the deal. We go track this thing down and if I get even a hint that you're about to snack on anyone, you're dead. Got it?"

"If you're so certain I'm a killer, why are you takin me along?"

Dean growled and then shrugged. "Because I think you told me the truth. You didn't know anything about real vampires. So I dunno, maybe you ain't a killer and maybe I don't need to make you extinct. But I _do_ need to deal with the other one, and you wanna help. So we go."

Shouldering his kit, Dean led the way to the car and popped the boot. Jasper stared in amazement at the huge collection of weapons and trinkets hidden there. "You've been in this game a while" he said, getting a grunt from Dean. Stepping back, Jasper walked around the car, running his fingers softly over the paintwork.

"'67 Chevy Impala" he said softly, "I remember when these first rolled off the line. The most beautiful car I'd ever seen. I owned one, cherry red though. This one's been loved" he looked up at Dean and smiled, the expression looking slightly strained and out of place. "It's been in the family a long time I think?"

"What makes you say that" Dean growled, shutting the boot. He was impressed that this monster knew cars though.

"Your feelings change when you look at it... they become warmer, nostalgic."

"Stay the hell outta my feelings" Dean said, yanking the door open and getting in the car. Jasper nodded and slid onto the seat next to him. There was a delicate pause.

"Did you want me to ride in the back?"

Dean gave him a long, neutral look.

"No, just don't screw with my music. And don't sparkle in the damn car. OK?"


	3. Chapter 3

**A vampire hunter and a vampire walked into a bar...**

* * *

It was raining, a warm, heavy rain. The kind of rain only ever seen in the south, where the heat just kept on coming no matter what. It felt good on the skin, drenching in seconds but not chilling. Dean felt some of the tension leave his body as the warm water trickled down the back of his neck.

"I hate the rain"

Dean looked sideways, an amused smirk on his face. The vampire was hunched up under its coat, its honey blond hair plastered to its skull. It looked pretty miserable and was sniffing occasionally.

"Don't tell me your kind can get colds? Or do ya shrink if ya get wet?"

Jasper glared at him and then shook his head, water dripping from the tip of his nose. "I'm trying to track the vampire, but all I can smell is rain and garbage. It would be easier if it was dry." Plus I used to love running in the rain with Alice, he added mentally, and shuddered.

Shrugging, Dean turned and began walking back up the alley, peering at the walls. The faint chalk outline where the body had been found five days before was nearly washed away and there were no tracks at all that he could see. Jasper had said he could track by smell, but now that looked like a bust too. Alright, so we do it the other way.

"Lets get out of here" he said, "we'll find a diner with wifi and do some diggin in the dry. OK?"

* * *

The two of them made a very odd-looking pair as they walked into a late night diner. Of equal height at 6'3'', they dwarfed most of the inhabitants as they walked in. Beyond that similarity, they were night and day. Dean's worn black leather coat and dark hair contrasted sharply with Jasper's gray jeans, white skin and blond curls. As the people in the diner gave them that classic American "y'aint from round here" look, Dean stomped across to a booth and threw his bag of guns in the corner.

"Do you do cheeseburgers?" Dean asked as the waitress came over with a pot of coffee. Jasper cleared his throat and tapped his fingers on Sam's laptop, which he had carried in from the car. "Oh yeah, and wifi, do you have that?"

"Surely do, password's on the wall over there. Best cheeseburger in the state" she added with a broad smile. She poured coffee for them both and then beamed at Jasper. "Can I get you somethin to eat honey?"

Dean raised an eyebrow, expecting the vampire to be awkward or make a dodgy comment. He wasn't prepared for the answering smile on Jasper's face as he shook his head politely. "Alrighty then, just you call if you change your mind" she said, then headed back to the bar humming happily to herself.

After a few moments Jasper noticed the hundred watt glare Dean was giving him and looked over.

"What?"

"What? What do ya mean, what? You were workin some mojo on her!"

"I wasn't. _Honestly_" he added, hearing Dean's snort of disbelief. "I didn't need to, she's happy that's all" he leaned back on the seat and smiled a little. "It's nice, I haven't been around happy people for a while. I'd forgotten how good it feels."

"So you're an emotional vampire too. Great" Dean swung the laptop round and opened it, tapping into the wifi and groaning as he saw the huge pile of research Sam had emailed him. Jasper pushed his hair out of his eyes and looked out the window at the rain, ignoring the sarcasm. The room was warm and despite the smell of humans everywhere around him, he felt comfortable.

By the time Dean's huge mountain of a cheeseburger arrived, he felt he had a better handle on things. Sasquatch had done his research well, seemed that the sparkle vampires were all connected up with central European lore and were probably a recent addition to America – since colonisation anyway, which made them a recent import compared to most of the stuff Dean usually fought.

"Sammy's got a theory about you" he said, taking a bite out of his burger and groaning softly at the taste. "Damn, that's a good burger." Jasper waited until he had satisfied some of his immediate hunger then raised an eyebrow.

"Theory? Go on..."

"Yeah" Dean wiped his mouth and took a pull of coffee, feeling more relaxed than he had in days. "He reckons you're a mutation. He's done some reading, says he can trace your species back to Middle Ages Europe, when the term "cold ones" starts flying about. Thing is, that's on top of the rest of the vampire lore. The rest of it – the Dracula lore, if you like – was around for centuries before that."

"Lore?"

"Yeah, that's what we call mythology when it turns out to be true." Dean finished his food and closed the laptop. "Around the 15th century a bunch of new lores started springing up in Italy and Croatia. About monsters that shone in the daylight but were cold as ice. These monsters were linked to mass murders and whole villages going missing."

Jasper looked away, his thoughts going at once to the Volturi. Sounded like the sort of thing they would do. Dean watched him closely, trying to get a read on him. His expression was strained, painful, although he had looked like that since arriving in the diner. He didn't look guilty though.

"The first mention of cold ones in the US comes from the Indians. They have legends of these monsters going back since the first white settlers came here. Looks like some of your ancestors came over on the boats, same as ours."

"That makes sense" Jasper said, nodding. "We've had dealings with tribes before, sometimes peaceful, sometimes not." He sat forward, swirling his coffee around in his cup. "So where does that leave us?"

Dean shrugged. "Means I don't know how to kill you, for one thing. There's no lore on it, no sign that any human has _ever_ killed one of you. Doesn't mean I won't try though." A throaty chuckle from Jasper made him add "if you give me any trouble, I mean."

"Course. Well I guess I'd better stick around, at least until we track down your killer vampire. If it turns out to be one of us, you'll need my help. Luckily for you, I'm pretty much an expert on killin my own kind." Blood red eyes rose to meet Dean's at the last statement and for a moment Dean saw beyond the image of a nineteen year old kid to the brutal history beneath the surface. Just for a moment, and then it was gone and the pale teenager was back.

Shuddering slightly, Dean rose and said "I gotta take a leak. Order me some pie if that waitress comes back, OK?" Jasper nodded and turned to look out of the window again. As he watched the rain pouring down the glass, the lights of a car suddenly made the window completely opaque and Jasper stared in horror into his own, gleaming red eyes.

* * *

"Where the... hey!" Dean caught the waitress as she went by. "Where did the guy go, the one I came in with?"

"The cute one? He left a few minutes ago. Seemed real upset by something" she said, looking concerned. "He didn't even take his coat" she added as Dean leapt over to the booth.

"Goddamnit" Dean cursed, picking up his stuff and glaring out of the window into the soaking night. As an after thought, he picked up Jasper's coat as well. "Where the hell did you go?!"

* * *

The rain pounded down but Jasper barely felt it. His body was moving without guidance, just running through the streets. He was keeping a human pace but his thoughts were far afield, searching his memory frantically. He had fed on human blood, he knew that now, but when? Where? What had happened to make him lose all control and not even remember?

His words to Dean came back, sounding sick and fake now to his ears. He had sworn he wasn't responsible for that death, but now... maybe he was? Maybe he had killed someone after all?

Dean would try to kill him now, that much Jasper was sure of. So he ran, because after everything that had happened, he didn't want Dean to die. Yeah, he was a hunter, but he had compassion. Something Jasper hadn't seen in a hunter, ever.

Jasper ran into the rain, putting distance between himself and the man who had trusted him. He ran until his thoughts were washed clean of the panic and the shame. When he reached the outskirts of town he stopped running and took shelter under a hedge, listening to the rain rustling through the foliage above him.

It was clear to him that something had happened, something he couldn't explain. He needed to find out what, to find out how he had fed on human blood and not remembered doing it. Logically, that meant retracing back to the victim, the death Dean had come here to investigate. It had been five days, presumably the victim would still be in the morgue. That was the place to start.

Picking himself up and brushing mud and leaves off his clothes, Jasper looked around. It was late and he was soaked. He needed a motel room, a hot shower and time to think. Straining his hearing, he picked up the sounds of a bar a few miles to the east. Good place to ask for directions. Jasper glanced about to make sure he wasn't being observed and then ran properly, covering miles in minutes to reach his destination. A quick chat with the sleepy, Monday night barman gave him the address of a motel and he was on his way again.

* * *

"Yes, this is the county sheriff's office. I'm trying to track down a kid, about eighteen or nineteen years old. He broke out of police custody, he's armed and very dangerous. We think he might be heading your way... description? Sure, he's real tall, about six three, curly blond hair down to his shoulders and real pale skin. No? Alrighty then, thanks for your time ma'am."

The search was taking forever. It had been four hours since he'd lost Jasper in the diner and he had no idea where he was. He was checking motels and bars now out of desperation, convinced that if the vampire had run off to feed it would have gone to ground pretty quickly afterwards, or left the state. He was hoping for the first one.

Dean swore and punched the dashboard. He'd been stupid to believe it's story, stupid to take it on the road with him. It must have mojo'd him somehow, maybe even telling him it couldn't affect him was a lie? Growling under his breath, Dean forced his tone into a light, slightly bored phone voice as the next motel picked up. His eyes widened as he got the reply he'd been hoping for.


	4. Chapter 4

"We really need ta stop meetin this way..."

Dean stared at the vampire in shock as it spoke through shaking lips. It was sat in the motel room chair, gripping the wood sides so hard it was splintering them. Naked to the waist, it's shirt drying on the radiator, it looked like it had been through hell since he'd last seen it. It's eyes, he noticed, were completely black now.

His focus was drawn to its body though, to the road map of scars that were vivid under the motel room fluorescents. Countless bite marks and tears covered it from neck to waist and down both arms, making it look like a demon's patchwork quilt. Shaking off the overwhelming fear that the sight brought down on him, Dean stepped into the room and raised his rifle, capturing the thing's head in his sights as he kicked the door shut.

"You didn't give me much choice. Why'dya run off, Jasper?"

The vampire shuddered and crunched some more wood between its fingers, like a human with a stress ball. "I... I didn't know what else to do. I've... I don't remember... but I must have..."

Dean cocked the rifle. "You killed someone. That girl?"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Jasper screamed, leaping out of the chair and slamming Dean into the wall, the rifle flying from his hands. Dean grabbed his arms and felt again that cold, rock solid flesh. Jasper leaned his head against the wall, seemingly unaware that he was pressing Dean back against the plaster and pinning him in place. His eyes slid shut and he began to murmur, looking completely unhinged.

"I don't remember it... but I must have fed... my eyes were red... human blood... I don't remember, don't remember... Alice... should have killed me, should have... I didn't want to, didn't mean to..."

"Enough!" Dean shouted in Jasper's ear, smacking him as hard as he could in the ribs. The vampire moved sluggishly and his eyes opened, deep black pits of utter loss and despair. "Enough bullshit. OK? If you killed someone, you would know. Right? So tell me, right now, did you kill someone?!"

"No... but I must have" Jasper whispered, sliding down onto the floor and leaning against the wall. "You saw my eyes, the colour of them?"

"Yeah, bright red. So what?"

"So our eyes burn red when we feed on human blood. Animal blood makes them yellow. So I musta fed on... on a..."

"What about now? Huh? Black eyes mean what?"

"Thirst" Jasper said, shaking his head. "I haven't hunted... I don't think... not for a while."

"Jesus" Dean sat down on the bed and picked his rifle up. "I trusted you, you sack of..."

"I know!" Jasper moaned, raking his hands through his hair. "I swear, I don't remember feeding. I swear it!"

Dean stared at him as Jasper collapsed on the bed, the sudden lack of motion confusing him. The rifle was steady in his hands but his heart was hammering. He was in a room with a thirsty, deranged vampire and he had no weapons that meant a damn.

Clearing his throat to get Jasper's attention, he raised an eyebrow. "OK. You don't remember. I'll buy that, if only because you're so damn broken up about it all. Do you want to find out if you did? Or are ya that much of a coward that you'll jus run?"

Jasper turned haunted eyes on him, the tension in his body making him shudder. "I... I need to know" he whispered finally, nodding. "I need to stop it happening again if I... I..."

"Fine" Dean said, pointing the rifle at the floor and slumping onto the other bed. "I need to sleep, been chasing your ass all over town all night. In the morning, we go to the morgue and see. OK?"

* * *

It had been a long time since a human had slept in his presence. The fact that Dean did it almost without thinking about it confused Jasper. Did the hunter really not fear him at all? Or was it something more basic – an acceptance that self defence was impossible, and therefore pointless? The second option didn't seem likely, knowing the little of what he did about Dean Winchester's personality.

So it was fearlessness then, which raised the question – why the fear last night? Why the search from him, if Dean didn't believe he was a killer? It confused Jasper, left him adrift. He had felt Dean's emotions when he kicked his way into the room, felt how furious he was with himself, then felt it die off as the hunter accepted Jasper's story. The speed of the changes was nauseating to Jasper, as sensitive as he was to moods and emotions.

Dean's feelings swirled and twisted so violently that Jasper couldn't get any kind of read on him whilst he was awake. But asleep there was a sense of peace, interrupted with occasional bad dreams that left a bitter, coppery taste in Jaspers mouth. He thought of his brother reading Dean's mind and explaining those dreams, but then pulled back, away from thoughts of his family. That was still too painful to visit, even in memory.

Around 4am Dean woke up and staggered to the small bathroom, stripping off his t-shirt as he came back. The emotional weather around him suggested that he was half asleep and probably unaware of his silent audience. It took every ounce of self control Jasper had to keep motionless, to ignore the sight of his blood moving under newly revealed skin. Out of habit, Jasper held his breath until Dean had stopped moving around, preventing the smell of him getting into his nose. A trick he had often had to use when dealing with humans.

To Jasper, it was a long, long night.

* * *

"What time is it?"

"Seven am" came the reply from the bathroom, half buried in the sound of the shower. The voice made Dean sit bolt upright for a moment, heart pounding. There was a thumping sound from the other room and Jasper appeared in the doorway, towel clutched around his waist and his hair dripping. His expression was alarmed and Dean sucked down air as he forced himself to calm down.

"What happened? You spiked like hell..."

"Nothing, nothing. I just... I expected Sammy. Not used to having a different bunkmate yet. Go finish your shower."

With a soft groan, Dean pulled himself out of bed and staggered over to the window. He peered out between the curtains as he heard the vampire start to dress, wondering at himself.

"What would dad say if he could see you now, Dean?" he muttered, ignoring the sparkles that caught the corner of his eye as Jasper moved in and out of the sunlight.

"What's the plan?" Jasper asked as he finished dressing. "Do we head straight to the morgue?"

"Change of plan" Dean said, eyeing the clear blue sky. "Ain't no way you'll be able to go outside until dark. We hole up in here until then."

"Fine" Jasper agreed, leaning against the wall. Dean turned and was caught by the sight of him for a moment, momentarily lost for words.

It was the stillness that got him, the sudden conviction that Jasper had turned into a statue. Nothing moved – no little twitches of muscles or blinks. His face was relaxed, almost frozen in place. It was terrifying and beautiful all at the same time.

"Hell with that" Dean said, shaking himself. He stepped to the door and Jasper moved, making him jump a little. "I'm going out. You might be OK all day here, but I need breakfast." He slammed out of the door and only paused for a fraction of a second as he caught Jasper's murmured reply of "you aren't the only one..."


	5. Chapter 5

"We need to talk, sparkly."

Jasper looked up as Dean shoved his way into the motel room, picking up the edges of the humans turbulent emotional state. Frowning, he said "What's happened?"

Dean tossed a box on the bed, a small radio hooked into what looked like a hand made tape deck. "You know what that is?"

"Not a clue."

"It's a police scanner" Dean said, sitting on the bed and staring at the vampire. "Picks up chatter from the police frequencies. Seems there was another murder last night."

Jasper shot to his feet. "What? Where!"

"About a mile from the first one" Dean said, watching the vampire closely. The creature's eyes were still dark as pitch, but hell, he could have lied about what that meant. "You don't know anything about..."

"No! God, no" Jasper cried, shaking his head violently. "I swear... I didn't leave this room. I swear it."

"Alright, alright" Dean said, raising his hand. "I'll accept that, for now. One thing I do know – something's turned this place into its own personal larder. Two kills in five days, with no real effort made to hide the body and no forensics at all from the first kill... something's hunting here and probably lives here too."

"Jesus" Jasper sat down, running his hands through his hair. "So what now?"

"Now, we go visit the morgue, just like we planned. Got you this" Dean tossed a fake FBI ID at the vampire and watched its expression change. "When did you get my picture?" he demanded. "Xeroxed it on the laptop from your other fake ID in your wallet" Dean shrugged, heading out to the car. After a moment, Jasper followed him.

"Does that mean you sent it to Sam?" he asked, wincing as Dean's shoulders hunched at the mention of his brothers name.

"Yeah, I did. He tells me you've got a big family back in DC."

Jasper grabbed the back of his jacket twisted Dean round, slamming his back into the car door. Leaning against him as the human struggled furiously, he growled "did you send hunters after my goddamn family?"

"No!" Dean gasped, the rock solid grip of the angry vampire filling him with panic. "I wanted to check your story, is all! I've only got your word for half this shit."

"If hunters get anywhere near my family, they'll be killed. Carlisle won't tolerate any threats..."

"Thought you said you were a peaceable people" Dean countered, trying to push Jaspers hands off his coat and failing miserably.

"We are" the vampire said, his voice ominous. "Not all our friends are though, ya hear me?"

"Not even slightly, but don't worry! Sam's nowhere near DC, he isn't going after them."

Jasper held him for a moment more in that terrifying vice grip, then let him go and stepped back. As Dean adjusted his clothing and glared, Jasper said "if your brother is a threat to my family, the people who care about them will kill him. Can I be any clearer?"

"Vampires with bodyguards. Cute" Dean grumbled, getting in the car. "Relax, Sparkly boy, your family's not in any danger. Now get in the damn car before I change my mind about takin you with me."

* * *

Jasper blinked in the bright lights of the morgue. The harsh white fluorescents were painful and the smell of antiseptic and bleach made his nose wrinkle. The receptionist eyed his fake ID suspiciously, not surprising considering it was 11pm at night.

Despite this, Dean looked very comfortable as he flashed his badge and rattled off some official sounding nonsense to gain access to the bodies. Jasper was secretly impressed by how easy the human found lies and trickery, things the vampire had spent decades learning to master. He followed Dean into the cold examination room and watched silently. as the sad remains of the two murdered women were wheeled out and placed on the tables. As the assistant went over the injuries with Dean, he bent to look at the first victim.

"Remember her?" Dean's voice made him jump and he looked up guiltily. Realising they were alone, he blinked and looked down at the woman on the slab. The cruel autopsy incision at her throat gleamed a sickly pink under the lights and the stench of embalming fluid made his stomach turn. Still, he forced himself to look into her open eyes for a long moment before shaking his head.

"I don't remember her" he said, turning away. Dean stepped over and carefully pulled the body bag aside, looking at the massive damage to her throat. The wounds were clean but the injuries were severe, her flesh appeared chewed rather than bitten.

"Is this how your lot feed?" he demanded, making Jasper look at the wounds. With a shaking, relieved breath, Jasper shook his head again. "No" he said, then a huge smile broke over his porcelain features. "I didn't do this!" he laughed, staggering away from the table and leaning against the wall as the tension left him. "Thank God..."

"God's got nuthin to do with it" Dean said, zipping the bag back up and checking the other victim. The same macerated, bloodless wounds met his eyes and he cursed quietly. "It was a vampire alright. A real one, not one of you sparkly motherfuckers."

Jasper raised his head and looked over at Dean. "What... what are you doing?!" he demanded as Dean began examining the gums of the women.

"Makin sure they aren't turned" Dean replied, pressing on the gums. "A real vampire, he's got a second set of teeth, like needle sharp fangs that come down when they get their feed on."

"I wish you'd stop saying 'real vampire' like I'm some sort of Halloween costume" Jasper objected weakly. Dean ignored him, finishing his inspection. "They ain't been turned" he confirmed, "just et. Alright then."

"So now what?" Jasper asked as they left the morgue, nodding to the still sceptical looking receptionist.

"Now? I go hunting, and you go home."


End file.
